Poetry #120

"Just for
a few
moments more
please hold
my hand,"
said the
little girl.

"I'm dying,"
the old
man said.
"Can you
bear it
to stay
while I'll
be on
my way?"

The little
girl stayed
quiet and
held tight
on the
old man's
frail hand.

"You're hurting,"
the old
man said.

The little
girl showed
her face.
She was
with her
lips smiling.

"Yet, your
smile seems
to hurt
me more,"
the old
man said.
"I'm leaving
you sooner
or later
and here
you are
in my
memories etch
your smile
in my
last moment.

"I wonder
how you'd
remember me,"
the old
man said.

Suddenly tears
slid down
the little
girl's cheek.

She can't
hold her
tears back.
She's crying.

But the
old man
smiled and
told her:

"I can
smile too.
If that
is alright
with you?"